Date: March 1, 2014
A year-long battle with the Canadian hate speech-clause led to its elimination
It is far from success stories in the current struggle against hate speech-sections. The Canadian journalist, lawyer and free speech activist Ezra Levant is able to deliver one of them.
His many years of struggle against hate speech legislation led last year to Canada's hate speech-clause, section 13, was abolished.
It was the one who brought Ezra Levant on trial only because in 2006 he reprinted the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons. A complaint from a Saudi-born imam led to a lengthy investigation by Canada's special human rights commissions.
Instead of estimating a defensive tone to avoid being found guilty Levant launched a targeted counterattack: In the interrogations he went into the meat of the interviewer and stated that "we printed the drawings to make use of our inalienable right to print whatever the hell we want, no matter what the hell you think about it."
The recordings of the interview he laid out on You Tube, where they received a large audience. Levant ended up getting sympathy on its side and was acquitted, but came anyway to pay an astronomical amount of costs . Since then he has tirelessly pursued the campaign against hate speech-clause both in the bestselling book " Shakedown "and as a presenter on Sun News Network .
March 1 you'll meet the inspiring and incisive speech activist of the Free Press Society, where he will receive this year's Sappho Prize for his efforts to free speech.
Admission is free for members of the Free Press Society.
This weekend I am being given a free speech award by the Danish Free Press Society. They're the defenders of the Danish cartoonists who were threatened after drawing images of Mohammed. For a translation of a website giving details of the event, click here.
